Free Lean on Me by Helenkay Dimon Page B

think of one. “Are you done talking to yourself?”
    “Am I wrong?” Spence shot back.
    “I’ll let you know as soon as I catch the person on the property.” And from now on Mitch vowed Cassidy wouldn’t be anywhere near the property unless he was at her side.
    “But yet for some reason you think you don’t need all the security supplies I ordered. You have some superhero way of figuring this out.”
    Mitch could almost see the wheels turning in Spence’s head. “Superhero?”
    “Couldn’t think of another word.”
    “I see and no.”
    Spence let his arm fall to the desk with a thud. “Promise me one thing.”
    No way was Mitch agreeing to that, so he stayed quiet.
    “When Cassidy screws you over, and she will, my friend, let me be the one to escort her out of town on your behalf. It’s the least I can do before I say I told you so.”
    There was only one way he wanted to think about Cassidy and screwing, and Spence didn’t have a role in that at all. “Only if you agree to beg her forgiveness when you finally figure out she’s not the woman you think she is. I’m thinking you should be on your knees while you do it.”
    The smile returned to Spence’s face. “Sounds to me like you agree to that beer bet after all.”
    * * *
    If she was going to get yelled at, and Mitch basically promised that would happen, Cassidy vowed she’d know exactly what was going on with Allan first. Without his waffling and hiding and storytelling, she’d be in the house and not in the nursery trespassing mess.
    Not that she blamed Allan for her current twisted state. No, she’d created most of the mess in her life without much help. Except the money part. She’d never had that much extra, despite what people thought, but there was enough of a nest egg to keep her going as she put her life back together and tried to figure out what type of business she could create with her odd set of skills.
    Or there was money until it all disappeared. Yeah, she refused to take the blame for that one. Rick Anderson bore that sin alone.
    She stood on the small stoop leading up to the back door of the house. Allan hadn’t answered the phone when she called from the diner. He didn’t come to either door now despite her lying on the bell and pounding on the wood frame. She’d peeked in the downstairs windows and walked around the house and all over the two acres attached to it. Other than seeing some unexpected empty rooms, she didn’t find anything.
    The boiling frustration in her gut at his antics mixed with worry. Allan was hiding something and she no longer believed the something was a female someone. Cassidy actually hoped for a new woman at this point. The thought made her squirm but she’d accept it. He deserved to be happy.
    But this was so much bigger than dating.
    She cupped her hand against the back door window and looked inside. Stacked boxes filled the kitchen table. Cupboards stood open. Not exactly the look of a place packed up for fumigation. The handmade sign on the front door wasn’t convincing either. While she didn’t know much about exterminators, she assumed they didn’t use signs in the homeowner’s handwriting. They probably blocked windows and doors too, and none of that was happening here.
    She rattled the doorknob but Allan had remembered to lock up the place when he rarely did it while she was growing up. Interesting how his mind held that but not an early morning breakfast date with his stepdaughter.
    A quick flip of the doormat showed the outline of where the key used to sit. That left few options. She glanced at the hanging basket of dead flowers. Up until a few seconds ago that had been her Plan D. Having run through the viable, noncriminal ones that left vandalism, a potential charge on the rap sheet she feared she’d soon have.
    Her motto had always been go big or go home. Looked like she might need to amend it to go big and likely end up in jail.
    Reaching up, she lifted the planter off the hook,